Andy Murray has restored some pride at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships by defeating Milos Raonic 6-3, 7-6(6), in the third place play-off match.
The world number one was denied a place in the final following a shock straight sets loss to world No.11 David Goffin in his opening match on Friday. Meanwhile, Raonic’s title hopes was dashed by defending champion Rafael Nadal.
This year Murray has played Raonic six times on the ATP tour, defeating the Canadian in every match. It is a trend that continued in Abu Dhabi as the Brit capitalized on his opponents’ costly errors during the critical moments of the match. After strolling through the opening in just 35 minutes, Murray produced some tentative serving throughout the second.
Murray’s first service issues allowed Raonic to earn a breakpoint in the sixth game of the second set, but failed to convert. That failure proved costly to Raonic’s chances after the Canadian produced a nightmare service game immediately after failing to break. A backhand smash into the net followed by a forehand drifting wide from the Canadian gifted Murray the break.
Approaching the closing stages of the match with a 5-3 lead in the favour of the top seed, an unexpected change in momentum occurred. This time it was Murray who experience a poor service game after a lack of focus enabled Raonic to claw his way back to level 5-5 before forcing a tiebreaker.
The rollercoaster experience for Murray continued into the tiebreak. Following a duo of unforced errors from Raonic, Murray had two match points at 6-4, but failed to convert either. He enjoyed better fortunes on his next attempt after a blistering forehand cross-court return granted him a third chance, which he converted with a backhand down the line.
“It’s obviously good to finish this weekend on a win. It was a good match, especially to work on my return. Milos obviously has a huge serve, so it helps get your eye on that.” Murray said during his on-court interview.
“It was a good match today.”
Saturday’s encounter was the first time that Murray has played since news broke of his knighthood. The 29-year-old has spoken of delight of receiving the honour, but has vowed that it will not change him.
“It’s a huge honour.” He said. “I still feel more like Andy Murray (than Sir Andy Murray). It’s obviously more normal to me.”
“I’m happy with that (the honour), it’s a nice way to finish the new year.”
Murray will start his ATP Tour campaign in next week’s Doha Open where he could face a showdown with defending champion Novak Djokovic in the final.
